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Topic: I want a new class of sodas (Read 1552 times)

I'm looking at Jamaicans like Stewart's Ginger Beer and Blenheim (hot and not-so-hot), and that's where I want to go with this. Blenheim will make your throat close off. Stewart's is like drinking glass needles. I think the recipe is like... 1 gallon of water, 1 pound of ginger, some sugar? This isn't a can of Canada Dry we're talking about here.

That's what I want. I want some strong, deep, rich colas; some dark, heady root beers; something akin to Dr Pepper with a deeper, warmer flavor of molasses and clove; rich cream sodas. Less sugar, more flavor. Something non-alcoholic with the class of a good beer or martini. Ostensibly, something more of a chilled, fizzy herbal tea.

More or less carbonation--for bitter or bitter-offset things I could see using much more carbonation as a preservative method, likewise for citrusy you'd use lemon juice or citric/ascorbic acid as a preservative. Cream sodas might take less carbonation; spicy ginger ales more or less, that style exists and has real variation; root beer can go either way too.

I need to build a dedicated kegging system just for this. I would love to make something like Blenheim that'll make your testicles descend, at least.

Yeah but I need recipes. I'm not much of a great experimenter in some such cases, and like a good starting point.

Hmm... making syrups. I don't think I could build a custom system for syrup deployment, but... hmm. I bet I could use the pressure cooker to cook ginger root and infuse it into water without vaporizing much off. Likewise vanillas or root beers (if I could get the root--you can't, it's illegal because you can make MDMA from the safrole, so says Google).

No idea where I'd go with Dr Pepper clone. Technically these are called "Pepper" drinks or something; Dr Pepper Co has been taken to court for monopoly over "Pepper flavored drinks" that are "Technically not Colas".

Yeah but I need recipes. I'm not much of a great experimenter in some such cases, and like a good starting point.

Hmm... making syrups. I don't think I could build a custom system for syrup deployment, but... hmm. I bet I could use the pressure cooker to cook ginger root and infuse it into water without vaporizing much off. Likewise vanillas or root beers (if I could get the root--you can't, it's illegal because you can make MDMA from the safrole, so says Google).

No idea where I'd go with Dr Pepper clone. Technically these are called "Pepper" drinks or something; Dr Pepper Co has been taken to court for monopoly over "Pepper flavored drinks" that are "Technically not Colas".

safrole is a carcinogen which is why you can no longer use it in commercial soda. you can however grow your own and it is totally legal to grow, harvest, own, cook with, eat, drink, fondle. There are also de-carcinogenated versions of extract available. However look into Wintergreen, Licorice root, burdock root, birch twigs, etc. many many herbs can make a nice soda. Ginseng makes a nice one two. Maple syrup, vanilla and some wintergreen would make a tasty cream soda I bet.

Surmising that reason X is used because we don't want to say reason Y is not deep into conspiracy theory territory--it's reasonable precaution to tactfully not spread information about making drugs. Mistakes like telling everyone Sudafed and Kerosene are used to make Methamphetamine are avoided these days (in high school they showed us a video where they actually completed the entire process, with a narrator explaining each step, why it's done, the dangers, etc... they pretty efficiently taught my class to homebrew our own meth).

Now if you want to get into conspiracy theory territory, you can start up with reasoning--for example, in the 90s we found MDMA in low (non-intoxicating) doses would treat PTSD. It's so effective that a single 10mg or 5mg dose every 2-4 months can effectively curb PTSD; about 100mg is used to get high. It's also incredibly generic (cheap, non-profitable)... so we can talk about "Big Pharma" and "Government Corruption".

Sufficient to say, though, Safrole is not a strong carcinogen. Even the Wikipedia page points out that it's about as carcinogenic as indoor air (and mentions that the DEA does classify it as a restricted substance due to its use in the manufacture of MDMA).